Race Review: JG Summit Employees Run

This was the very first orgranized race conducted inside Heritage Park. With runrio.com overseeing the race, the 5km route would comprise two loops while the 10km would have 4 loops. With an entrance fee of P250, it came with the standard racebib and a cool singlet with the JG summit colors.

I have to admit that running 4 loops would seem monotonous. But that changed when the gun sounded. The last time I ran inside Heritage Park was during the Autoreview 10k and that was only 1 loop since it was only part of the Mckinley "killer" route. Running 4 times around Heritage Park was a "killer" in itself since it had its share of steep and slow inclines and descents.

I was aiming for a more respectable finish versus my 69mins PR ---but failed. I managed to arrive 72mins, my worst performance yet. But at least I got to beat our company CEO and 2 other VPs to the finish. That's me below reaching the finish line with our CEO and 1 VP a good distance behind, hehehe.

This Sunday is another run at Heritage Park: the company sportsfest. No registration fee so definitely I'll run this one, lalo na that I want to improve on yesterday's dismal run. 10k again so I hope to do better.


Great organization of the race although I heard two officemates who ran 5k made 3 loops instead of two (runners or organizer's fault? hehe).

The First(?) Laiya 10k

It was the day before our department's planned summer outing in Coco Grove Resort in Laiya, San Juan, Batangas when I thought of a crazy plan: why not run 10k along the main road of San Juan in the morning? This, of course, after hours of drinking the night before the run.


MP, AQ, DB, and BE all agreed it was a crazy plan but, addicted runners as we are, we all turned up for the 4-hour trip the next day with our running shoes and gear in tow.


Friday night was the usual drinking spree of Sanmig Light and Grand Matador Brandy. I sneaked off to my bed at around 1:15am. The drinking spree ended at 3am with AQ, BE and MP still there. I felt since we all slept late, it would be bad for us to wake up early for this run.


Nevertheless...the phone's alarm clock rang at 6am.


I woke up trying to fight the laziness to go back to bed, and put my running gear on. I woke up the rest of the gang and, surprisingly, they all donned their gear as well. MP brought his Nike hydration belt since there'll be no water station to assist us on this trip. And so, at 6:30am, the first(?) Laiya 10k began.


We had to pass through about a 400m dirt road off the resort just to get to the main road. We setup our stopwatches and my NSTB and off we went on a 7min/km pace.


This was everyone's first here so we had to watch out for dogs (fortunately there were none who took interested on our sweaty legs). Bystanders were in awe as well since they saw these 5 (stupid) guys destroying a completely relaxed vacation away from Manila.


"Running team kayo?"


"Kaya mo pa abutan yun!"


Those were some of the chants we got from them which was quite new to me since I don't encounter cheering when I run races at The Fort.


At the 5km turnaround point, we all went to our preferred paces: MP and DB zooming off, BE increasing a little, while AQ passed me to run his pace. I remained on my pace although I started slowing down to about 8min/km (haaay, maling strategy na naman). I later found out from MP that the 7min/km pace that I started with was too fast for a warm-up pace.


The route back was a killer in terms of slow inclines and turns. But it was all worth it.


Towards the 7km mark, I saw BE covering the back of his neck with his palm since the sun started to shine already. Good thing I wore my trusty cap and switched it a la Robin Padilla to cover the back of my neck. Ayos.


BE started to get thirsty so he had to make a stop at a roadside carinderia in which the tindera obliged to give him water from their cooler. It was about 9km at this point. He zoomed off when I told him the remaining distance.


I clocked in last at 1:12 when I reached the finish. All of us tired but smiling towards our way back to the resort. It was a great run. It was now time to go have our breakfsat buffet and hit the beach to relax.


Saraaaaaap!

Btw, the NSTB for this race can be found here.

Training Program for 21k

My long-term goal for running is to at least have finished a half-marathon. In particular, I would like to run (and finish) a half-marathon by next year's Condura Run which I hope would have an exciting route similar to last March wherein the runners traversed the Skyway. It was truly an amazing site to see 21k runners approaching the finish line and being given their finisher's medal (not a shirt, mind you, but a medal).

I would like to be one of those (elite) runners come Condura Run 2010, hopefully to conquer the Skyway as well. No need to chase a PR since finishing the whole 21k will be a major feat in itself. Something to add on my "been there, done that" list.

I've been browsing around on the 'net for possible 21k training programs and I chanced upon an article on coolrunning.com. Has anyone tried following these training programs and successfully managed to finish their target race?

Race Review: Mizuno 10k

After days of rain, the sun had greeted all the racers yesterday morning at the starting gate of the Mizuno 10k. The 15k racers had left a little before 5:30am since I saw the lead pack when I was heading for the BHS parking lot.


I pinned my racebib and headed to the corral where I met Obet, an old football buddy in DBTI. He was running the 5k and said he usually averages below 30mins which has improved his game. He encouraged me to come back and play every Saturday again but since I live far from Makati now, I told him I'll just try one of these Saturdays.


There were a lot of 10k runners compared to the Autoreview 10k I joined 2 weeks ago. Each of them stretching and warming up to the leader at the podium giving instructions as I entered the corral. Being a Japanese company, it was only right that the starting gun be triggered by one of their nationals (and probably big bosses here).



It was 5:55am when the gun fired. Wow, so far so good.


My learnings from the Autoreview 10k have been put into this Mizuno 10k. First, I went to the CR twice before heading to the starting gate so as not to embarass myself from going to a resto helplessly looking for a place to pee. Second, I adjusted my playlist such that the first 5k will play slow to middle tempo songs while the second half would play my usual upbeat tunes. This coincides with my strategy to have a good pace throughout the race.


Time to beat: 69mins.


The race route is similar to the BOTAK 10k last month except that on the way back from the Buendia flyover, we turned right towards Rizal avenue and traced the route back. BOTAK 10k went straight from Buendia flyover towards Serendra past Market2x.


I felt I ran better this time since I learned to maintain my pace past the 5k. Further, the slow elevating incline of the Buendia flyover was "panis" this time since I slowed my pace on the way up, passing by panting walking runners who might've not considered the killer incline on their way back (which was the case for me during Botak 10k).


I accelerated my pace on the last 500meters since I saw my watch at 1:07. Damn! That meant I won't be able to beat my 69mins PR. But still I sprinted since at least I could stay within my current PR of 69mins.


I made it to the finish line at 69mins 40secs. Well, to please my efforts, the NSTB app recorded the distance at 11.13kms at an average pace of 6:15. So, if I were to proportion that to a 10k exact distance, my time would be 62mins. Ok na rin yung 69mins if you look at it that way. Hehe.


I think one downside of this race was that the Gatorade booth was mayhem. There was no queue to get a bottle of Gatorade so you have to squeeze in to get one. This was opposed to the finisher shirts booth which had queues for different mens and womens sizes. Nice shirt btw!


I uploaded my race stats to the Nokia Sports Tracker Beta website which you can see here. It was nice to see that my pace is improving so I hope in my next 10k I'll be able to beat my PR.


My next race? It'll be a company run hosted by JG Summit for all JG companies. It's gonna be on June 28 in Mckinley Hill (another hilly route) and I'll be running the 10k. A week after that, it's another 10k company run (sportsfest) at Mckinley Hill again.

For now, I'll be thinking of playing football in the next raceless two weeks.

Race Review: AutoReview 10k

All my official funruns, 3 5k and 1 10k, were staged at The Fort with Boni High Street as the Start/Finish mark. I've been accustomed to the route except for my 1st 10k which included traversing the Kalayaan flyover up to Gil Puyat Avenue and back.

The AutoReview 10k race route which was to begin and end at Mckinley Hill, was my first at the said venue. It was only me and DB this time, with DB running the 5k since he said he wasn't able to prepare for a 10k race.

The race route was very challenging as seen in my NSTB elevation/speed chart below. Yup, the NSTB worked beautifully, i.e. the map, charts, and other info were completely displayed on my profile which, btw, you can view through this link.

As I said, the route was very challenging with its constantly changing elevation. The race distance measured 10.27kms as per my NSTB. Officiating and water stations were very good as well although I wished for more freebies after the race. The only freebie I got was a 10% discount coupon at the Blade store.

The only major downside to this race were the hosts on stage. The booboo was that they let the 5k runners run first before the 10k participants. This shouldn't be, especially nowadays that we experience sunrise as early as 5:30 to 5:40am. To add to the irritation while we were waiting for the 5mins wait time before the start, this one host was really into it ---really! He was in love with the mic so much that kulang na lang eh kainin nya yung mic. I think the guy was a frustrated DJ (or announcer sa karnabal or something) since he kept on talking and talking. We were all scared that he might lose track of time and forget that the 10k runners still haven't started.

The best description of the host came from one of the foreigners who joined the race (which I think was an American based on his accent) who said to his friend after, "We went inside Heritage Park and it would've been great if we had all that cloud cover but the guy up there on the stage seemed to have diarrhea of the mouth so we all started late!"

Aside from that above mishap, generally I enjoyed the race. I clocked in at 70mins ---1min slower than my Botak 10k since I had the CR problem again at the starting line. I think I wasted 2mins hoping that the McDo and Starbucks CRs were open but unfortunately were not. At the end of the race when I went to relieve myself, di naman pala ganun karami. I think it's psychological. Next time next time....

I think I also need to improve on my pacing. Based on the NSTB chart, I was pacing well up to 5-6kms but started dropping after that until the 9th km. I think I need to reprogram my strategy since it's still meant for 5k. Hinahataw ko unconsciously after the 5th km. Dapat siguro pinace ko pa din until about the 8th km, tapos dun pa lang dapat humataw.

I believe what I did right on this race is that I warmed up by jogging about 100-150meters before the race. That woke up my forever wake-up-late-then-feels-painful left calf muscle kase hindi nagwarmup. I think I should do the same in every race from now on.

My next race? If our company sportsfest gets postponed on June 7th (8.8kms in UP), I'd probably join the Mizuno Run 10k, a revisit to the Kalayaan floyver route.

Btw, I weighed 168 lbs after the race. ;-) 16 more pounds to go before I reach normal BMI. Sana tuloy2x na!

Review: Nokia Sports Tracker Beta

Having used my sister’s ipod/nike+ for 3 weeks for my practice runs, I have to say that I was quite impressed of Apple’s nifty gadget. It was able to provide distance, pace, and time data simply by pressing the center button or by looking at the screen. It even had the audio announcements that indicate progress after each km, halfway-point, last 500 meters, and upon finishing your workout (“Great job!” or something like that was said by Tiger Woods at the end of one my 5km runs).

Too bad that I had to return it to her yesterday.

This morning I needed to do a practice run in preparation for Sunday’s Autoreview 10k. I was targeting to finish 10k, 2 rounds of my 5km route. Aside from my Nokia phone’s music player to accompany me, I thought it was a good time to test Nokia’s latest software: The Nokia Sports Tracker Beta (which I will call NSTB from hereon) which I was able to download previously from this website and install via Bluetooth to my phone.

So, at about 1km into my run, I selected “Running” from the NSTB app and pressed Start. If you’re able to setup your phone’s GPRS settings, the NSTB will automatically connect to the Internet which I assume was for searching the right map based on the GPS’ reported current location. You can avoid the GPRS data-charges by selecting “Phone” on Settings->Map Material within the NSTB.

I saw the GPS in green which meant that the phone was able to detect the GPS signal. I then played my running-playlist and inserted my phone inside my belt bag. Putting it inside the bag was a gamble since in previous tests of GPS inside my home showed that GPS-detection failed since the phone needed a clear airway for this. Will the GPS still work inside my belt bag?

After one 5km lap I proceeded for another round. I stopped the current workout and started another one. I was glimpsing at the NSTB app from time to time and could see that the distance/time/pace were still running with me. That meant that putting it inside my belt bag wasn’t an issue after all! I saw the time and calculated that if I try to finish the 2^nd lap I’ll be late for work. So I cut short my 2^nd lap and proceeded home. Total distance for two laps was approximately 9kms which I thought was a good practice run for Sunday.

Looking at the NSTB Training Diary, I was able to see a complete summary of my workout: Start Time, Duration, Distance, Avg pace (min/km), Max pace (min/km), number of steps, and calories burned. Pressing my phone's nav-key downward would reveal other stats such as speed vs time, speed vs distance, altitude vs distance, and the map route of my run. The latter looked very confusing since the map was not that detailed and phone-screen limitations made it difficult. All the stats and the map became clear when I uploaded the workouts to the NSTB website.

You need to sign-up on the NSTB website in order to upload the workouts. It’s very easy to sign-up and it’s free.

Below are screenshots of the NSTB website Dashboard after I’ve uploaded this morning’s workout:

Above is the upper-half of the Dashboard page. Ang galing ano? The first thing that caught my eye was the map. Nokia worked with Google Maps on this one so it was very detailed. Note that I didn't plot my route on the phone or on the website but the route that I went to this morning was shown accurately. This clearly proves that the GPS works ---even inside my belt bag. The map showed the Fast and Slow flags indicating where the NSTB recorded my fastest and slowest pace. It also showed the High and Low flags indicating the highest and lowest altitudes of my run. There is also the musical-note flags indicating where the songs in my playlist started. The details are displayed when you click on the flags.

At the right is a graph displaying Speed, Altitude, and Heart Beat stats. The latter can only be displayed if you bought the Nokia N79 that comes with a Polar heart-rate monitor. Hmmm, I wonder if the Polar monitor can be sold separately?

Above the map and the graph is a summary-header of the workout indicating type of workout (in this case, Running), Distance, Total Duration, Avg. Speed, Max Speed, Ave Pace, Step Count, and Calories burned. It also shows the number of other users who've viewed your workout (assuming that you've shared to the public your profile).

Above, the lower-part of the Dashboard shows the songs played during the workout and Lap information. Again, I didn't key this in manually. It was all the NSTB sending the info to the website. Disregard the laps recorded on my workout above since I was playing around with it after the run.

Other neat features I saw on the website was that the community of users who allow public views can be seen in the interactive map DURING their workout. That is, you could see them running their routes REAL TIME with all the stats/info as mentioned earlier.

In summary, I was skeptical at first of the NSTB since my earlier GPS tests with my Nokia phone at home were unsatisfactory. However, using the NSTB app during my practice run was excellent since it was able to record everything accurately. With the NSTB website, the stats/maps and other information are seen better for the (addicted) runner to see.

The NSTB is a great alternative to those who don't have the luxury of buying ipods/nike+ or polar/garmin(?) watches. All you need is a GPS-compatible phone and access to the internet. I only wished that the NSTB developers would include audio announcements similar to Nike+ so that I avoid having to pull-out the phone from my belt bag from time to time which causes me not to focus on the road ahead.

For the cost-conscious, you could be seeing your phone's GPRS-charges increase once you start using the NSTB app since once in a while you need to connect to the Internet to upload your workouts to the NSTB website or whenever there is a software update.

I think for Sunday's Autoreview 10k, I'll put the NSTB to the real test.

(Btw, if you found this article interesting/helpful, hope you can click on an ad below. Thanks!)

Race Review: Botak 10k Paa-Tibayan

RACE DAY. I woke up 5am as usual. This being my fourth funrun, I've somehow gotten used to waking up this early (and excited!) whenever it's race day. This is going to be extra special since it's my first ever 10km race and what a way to start it off by entering the Botak Paa-Tibayan.

I arrived around 5:30am and started stretching off thanks to some warm-up exercises courtesy of Coach Rio's videos. The office running gang was there, all of us running the 10k event. When I reached the starting gate, the 42k runners have already started. The 10k and 21k runners were up next. BE got so excited that he had to pee just minutes (and I mean 2 minutes) before the race. Hmmm, I wonder how (and where) he got relieved so fast.

The starting gun went off a little past 6am. Nahawa ata ako kay BE coz I felt like wanting to pee as well even though I've already relieved myself when I left the car for the Boni High CR. Arrrgghhh. Nakakasira ng diskarte 'to ah, I thought. Looking for a CR during the race will surely slow down my aim for a respectable 1hr 20mins.

Upon reaching Rizal Avenue, I remembered there was a Chowking resto just before we take a left up to the flyover. So, kinalimutan na ang hiya, I swerved to the left and opened the Chowking entrance. I asked the two nice ladies manning the counter where was the CR. As I walked near it, I was glad to see 1 or 2 fellow runners who've made the trip as well.

Ahhhhh….relief! Too bad I wasn't able to order that spicy beef wanton soup and siopao I always order for breakfast. Hehe.

So I'm back in the race, and at the next left turn, voila! There was the flyover to Buendia. It was such a lovely site that I had to stop thrice to take pictures of the swarm of runners trudging up the path.

As the flyover started descending to Buendia, I remembered LA who taught me to take full advantage of such descents. I accelerated and I think I overtook about 15-20 runners. Now, the long run at Buendia awaits.

I passed by the first water station just after the flyover. Too many runners ganging up on this station plus, I wasn't thirsty yet. This was something I've learned from my last race, Step-Up, when I had too much to drink of the sealed Summit mineral water bottles they gave us. I think I felt bloated from drinking too much water at that race. Sinulit masyado eh. Hehe.

I stopped at the second water station and drank about two plastic cups of water. As I went along, I was amazed to see the first batch of runners who've already made the U-turn at Malugay, coupled with about two 10-12 year olds running like mad as if their life depended on it. I believed these two children have already made a lot of money winning these events since the opportunity to win at their age class is huge.

BE, DB, AQ, and MP have made the U-turn as well. I recon they were about 10 minutes ahead of me.

At last! I finally saw the U-turn. I was on my way back to the finish line. But it was still a long way. One thing that boosted me was that buti nga ako pabalik na, yung mga 21k runners wala pang kalahati. Plus, Born To Be Wild started playing on my earphones. I think that's my power song.

The traffic was well controlled by the organizers and by MAPSA. On the way back, I heard a long car horn which I believed came from a disgusted, irate driver waiting for the MAPSA to allow them to pass.

"Kita mo ba yan??!?!" the MAPSA shouted to the driver while pointing to the runners. I couldn't stop myself from grinning sheepishly at the driver and trying hard not to stick out my tongue in a BELAT KAMI MUNA! statement.

I passed by the first water station that I intentionally missed earlier. I think this'll be my last gulp. So I swerved left and took…

Ooooohhhh…GATORADE! Ayos ah! Kaya pala dami tao sa water station na 'to kanina.

Like Popeye after eating a can of spinach, I increased my pace towards the flyover. I threw caution to the wind on the incline and kept a fast pace. And then, like a Ferrari at 4^th gear going up a mountain, I stalled. Pfffftttt!

I committed the cardinal sin: I stopped….and walked. I wasn't able to anticipate the long incline of the flyover going back. Killer incline, grabeh! I think I walked for about 100-150meters until I saw that the incline had stopped to a level path. On I went.

As I descended the flyover, a Manila water tank truck had greeted the runners with a water shower. Haaay, sarap! Passing Fifth Avenue, I looked at my stopwatch and saw 43 minutes. Hey hey hey! I think I'm on to something here! Baka better than 1:30 ito ah, I thought.

So it was now the long road along S&R and Home Depot. Along the way, there was this guy (imagine Balot, but about 50lbs lighter) using me as a pacer. He would ran past me and then, once he's about 20 meters ahead, would walk until I pass him. Note that I was at a steady pace the whole time. Ang kulit eh! I think he did it about 4-5 times until about 200 meters from the finish line when I took LA's last rule: FINISH STRONG. So, I sprinted all the way to the finish. Iniwan ko na si Balot.

I looked up to see the official time and pressed my stopwatch: 1 HOUR and……(drum roll please)……9 MINUTES!

Huuuuuuwoooow! 69 minutes!!!! Grabeh! Ba't kaya ganun ano? On my practice runs my 5km would finish about 34minutes. So, if I were to estimate my 10k (plus a slow down in pace in the last 5k) I would finish at about 74-80minutes.

69 minutes. Now THAT's good for a first time 10k run.

Generally, I enjoyed the BOTAK 10k. The way they kept the traffic on hold, the water stations, and singlet were all good. What I didn't like was when they published the official times. I'm very certain that my time was 69 minutes but, when I downloaded the official results, my time was 65 minutes. I think they need to improve on this. Further, I heard the 5k route was bad due to no water stations were available. Tsk tsk, if it were true, now that's really bad.

My next race? It's probably going to be the AutoReview 10k at Mckinley Hill on May24 since my company's UP funrun moved from May31 to June7 (sayang sumabay sa Mizuno Run, same route pa naman sa BOTAK 10k). Hmmm, di pa pala ako registered sa AutoReview run so I'd better schedule it next week.

Btw, seeing the race schedules/details at takbo.ph made me wonder: ba't ang mahal ng registration fees? The Slimmerun and Step-Up were at P150/head only. Now, the price range has been P200-P350/head. I hope the race organizers would encourage more runners to join by lowering the fees.

Kating-kati na mag-10k!

Dalawang tulog na lang, May 10 na. It’s been like forever since I registered at ROX BHS last Apr25 for the BOTAK Paa-bilisan 10k. I was able to beat the deadline since it will be an additional P50.00 if I registered beyond that date. True enough, the BOTAK booth at the Step-Up-For-A-Cause FunRun said they’re already charging P300.00/head. Buti na lang! Since then, I've been eagerly waiting for May10.

Feeling ko para akong si Pacquiao when I decided to “move up” from the 5k races to the 10k race, parang weight-class sa boxing ano? Hehe. What increased my excitement in running my first 10k is when I saw the BOTAK 10k race-route (courtesy of takbo.ph):

Man! It’s similar to the Condura 10k that my colleague, LA, ran last March 22 (it’s a memorable date since this was the first 5k funrun that I joined). We’re going up the Kalayaan Fly-over…and back!!!

Huwaaaaaw!!!!

I hope to make a respectable time on Sunday. Since lately my average pace in my 5-7.5km practice run is about 7mins/km, I’ll try to aim for a 1hr 10mins time. Pero kahit maka-1:30 lang ako, ok na. At least it’ll give me something to work on in the next 10k races I’ll be joining.

Btw, a weight-loss update: it was a great morning as well today when I stepped on the scale: 1-6-9 POUNDS! Yehehehes, you read that right: ONE…HUNDRED…SIXTY-NINE….POUNDS! I’ve lost 7lbs since I’ve started running regularly, coupled with the missus’ “enjoyable” oatmeal-only dinners (weekdays lang). Hehe.

BOTAK 10K, here I come!

Race Review: Step Up For A Cause

Step Up For A Cause FunRun was going to be my last 5KM race before I move up to the 10K level. I woke up 5am as usual and drove off to The Fort, minus my officemate DB who failed to get up on time. MP, the reason why I joined this run (he asked me to register him and his friends so nahawa na din akong mag-register), was on the starting gates as usual ready for his 10k.

Si Paolo Obrera(?) lang nakita kong artista dun since he was the host of Chances Are, the Q-TV show that sponsored this event. Sayang, I was hoping to see Heart since she looked good the last time I saw her at Italianni's Glorietta 4 (in the arms of ex-bf Jericho).

The race started a little over past 6am both for the 5k and 10k participants. At the first turn before 5th avenue, I was amazed to see a large throng of runners on their way into this race. Parang mas marami pa sya sa Slimmerun.

The 5km race course is similar to the Condura Run 5K but with a U-turn. The way up to the 2.5K mark for this race is still competitive due to the incline. I felt that I've really improved from my past 2 races since here, from the starting line pa lang, I was able to control my pace and not get swayed by the adrenalin rush of the other racers that cause them to speed up unnecessarily and run out of gas in the end. Although my pace seemed slower, I felt better going into the halfway mark.

The racebib in itself should somehow give an expectation to how a race is organized. For this race, the barcode attached in the racebib proved what I thought. First, the water stations gave out sealed, off the shelf Summit mineral water which was quite a wonderful surprise to us runners who are used to regular water on plastic cups. Too bad the Summit water wasn't chilled though but still, a pleasant surprise.

The race officials did a better job here in controlling the vehicles from interfering the runners versus that of the Slimmerun.

As I was nearing the finish line, at about the last 100meters, I recalled what LA said about "finishing strong." So, I sprinted all the way up to the finish, overtaking about 5 runners. I stopped my watch and recorded a 30mins 21secs personal best. My official time would be 30minutes 29secs which is STILL a new personal best. YEAH!

The finisher's shirt has got to be THE BEST so far among the 3 races I've joined. It's sort of a dry-fit meshed (no hole) clothing that looks expensive. For a P150.00 joining fee, this shirt is more than worth it. The other giveaways were a tote-bag, some Champion detergent, candy, and a piece of Rebisco cracker, obviously given by the sponsors.

Well, as I said here in the beginning, this will probably be my last 5k race for now since I'm practicing for the 10k. Next up: BOTAK Paa-bilisan 10k on May10 at The Fort.

Here we goooo!

Step Up For a Cause 5k

By Thursday morning I was already decided not to run for the above event on Apr26. However, MP handed me his registration form and, since I lived near the GMA network office, asked me to register him and his friends. 

It was too hard to resist. Ahhhgghhh. I finally succumbed to my new addiction and printed out a registration form for myself. By lunchtime I was at the GMA office to register MP for the 10k ---and myself for the 5k. 150 bucks. Not bad seeing that the racebib has a barcode marker which looked promising since the Condurarun had a barcode monitor as well.

So, I'll be waking up early tomorrow for my 3rd 5k run in over a month. Btw, the Slimmerun 5k official results just came in. My official time was 31:02 and finished #150 out of 450 5k runners. Still, an improvement from my Condurarun which was at 33:50.

I wish the missus could join me (who btw is starting to train via 30-45min walks on the treadmill regularly) in tomorrow's run since there COULD BE a few showbiz personalities from the Kapuso network running although the missus, a Kapamilya, said, "Malamang hindi ko naman makikilala karamihan dun" since she watches ABSCBN more often. Never the less, I'll bring my trusty ol' digicam in case I need to be a paparazzi on the run, hehe.

I could only imagine if Mike Enriquez ran and, if I overtake him, he would shout out and say:

"Hindi kita tatantanaaan!!!"

So, as in the Slimmerun, I hope to finish faster (below 30mins sana) before I move up to the 10k races.

Wish me luck!

The Masked Runner

Anybody know this guy? I saw him at the Slimmerun last Saturday stretching out during the cool down after the race. This is actually the 2nd time I saw him, previously seeing him a year ago at the UP Ikot walking by his lonesome around the famed oval. Spooky. That was when the missus and I went to her old campus to find out if the famed fishballs are still there to our detriment.

The guy looks creepy, but I bet he's a good runner. Probably the costume is something that he wants to wear to release his dark side.

Btw, my mind is back and forth thinking if I should run again this Sunday: Step Up For A Cause 5k c/o Q-TV. My original goal is to participate in a race once a month, probably running the 5k for 5 months before I step up to the 10k level.

Oh well, if you don't see me at The Fort on Sunday morning, then I would probably be in UP Ikot running with my officemates in preparation for the company's May17 Fun Run. Who knows, I might be running (literally) into the Masked Runner again.

Race Review: Slimmerun 2009

If only my 1st official run wasn't the Condura Run, the Slimmerun would've been great. However, I can't help but compare the two after the race.


Originally, the 16k runners should've started earlier at 5.30am but due to certain reasons I wasn't aware of, all 3k/5k/16k runners started at the same time which was 6am. I positioned myself towards the middle of the pack so as not to get tumbled on by the faster runners. After all, I wasn't there to be the fastest. I was there to beat my own personal record of 33:50 set in the Condura Run.

The host was doing his job well, greeting everyone and plugging products here and there until he suddenly started counting down.

10, 9, 8, 7.....

Syete! I looked at my watch and it was 6am but I still saw a lot of runners at the sidelines stretching, warming-up, chatting.

Imagine the queue on the portalets running towards the starting gate.

...6, 5, 4, 3....

Imagine the poor guy/gal INSIDE the portalets.

...2, 1...BANG!


And we were off! I promised myself na hindi ako padadala sa mga mabibilis tumakbo at the start so that I can pace myself up to the finish line but, as what had happened, my pace was fast going into the 1st 1.5kms. I slowed down my pace after that since I knew that from the end of Rizal Avenue up to the U-turn near Fifth Avenue Place, the elevation would be upwards. The water station after 2kms was set up poorly, i.e. it was on the other side of the road so we all had to cross to get water.


The next water station was before and after the U-turn. So the 5km leg had 3 water stations versus Condura which only had one. The thing that I didn't like was that the race officials didn't manage the traffic well since I found myself signaling to oncoming/intersecting cars whenever we crossed roads. The race officials should've taken care of this like how it was well-organized in the Condura Run.

I found myself walking for about 100 or so meters but that was all the walking I did. At the last turn seeing the finish line, I was proud of myself as I crossed the line with my new personal record (unofficial): 30mins, 53secs. I was about 3mins faster than my previous 5k. WOW!


Bumawi din naman in the end yung Slimmerun due to lots of giveaways. There was actually a total of 3 Vitwater bottles since the 1st one was handed to the runners immediately after the finish line before receiving the loot bag and t-shirt. The shirt would've been nicer if they've put in "FINISHER" on it, panindak when I take my UP-ikot practice runs. Hehehe.



Of course, the SlimmersWorld Miss Bikini 2009 models were there to cheer on. Magaganda? Well, let me just safely say: it's a bikini contest. ;-)

Paikot-Ikot

I have to admit, I'm addicted to running nowadays. I often wake up just about 6am every morning thinking if I should get up and lace on my shoes and run, whether on the treadmill or on the road. The reasons why I won't run is either Lucas is already awake or if I ran the previous day.

The missus has picked up running as well. Last week she bought a pair of Adidas shoes and started walking against the news of Jennylyn who had a freak post-pregnancy accident while working. Undaunted, the missus has proceeded in inviting me to try the UP Ikot route in Diliman. Owa, my mom-in-law, joined too.

Since then I've gone to UP Ikot on 3 occassions. The missus is well on the road to (sports) recovery as she has walked 1.5x around the circuit, with Owa covering a round of the route as well. My driver btw, ran around the oval 4 times (wow!).

This morning, my 3rd time, I went there again with my officemate BE in preparation for next Saturday's Slimmerun race. I was able to go around the oval twice on a good non-stop jogging pace and then walked/ran/walked the 3rd time. Btw, the oval measured EXACTLY 2.2kms as proven by our car's odometer.

Tomorrow is a Sunday, and again, I'm thinking of running in the morning probably just around in our neighborhood.

But before tomorrow morning comes tonight's most important question: saan kaya kami kakaen? :-)